ON THE DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 
175 
than the integuments, and the pigments are more resistant 
than bone. 
It is not assumed that the abovenamed description of a pre - 
pared earth for the cemetery is perfect. It is an approximation 
to the truth. A carefully conducted series of new experiments 
are required to bring out the precise facts. 
With these modifications of the earth in which the dead 
should be laid must come an entirely new system of burial. It 
would be in vain to construct the best burial-ground if the pre- 
sent system of enclosing the dead in coffins of wood or i\on or 
lead were to continue. The coffin should be nothing more 
than an easily destructible shroud, in which the mortal remains 
may be concealed from view until they are deposited in the 
earth. The present coffin is after the mode of an Egyptian 
sarcophagus, and is probably an imitation of that receptacle. In 
the form of this receptacle there is nothing objectionable, and 
if the popular taste wills that it shall be maintained, so be it. 
But the structure must be so modified that the instant the body 
is placed in the earth it shall either be in direct contact with 
the surrounding earthy matter or shall be separated from it by 
some simple organic material that is easily and rapidly 
destroyed. The newly proposed wicker coffins would probably 
answer the purpose intended, fairly; but they have the fault of 
not being sufficiently destructible. A return to the ancient 
bier and to the primitive mode of simply enveloping the body 
in cloth would be by far the most rational modification. 
It is presumed by some who advocate this direct mode of burial 
that interment should in all cases be carried out within a short 
interval after death ; that a period of not less than thirty-six 
hours should be allowed to elapse between the cessation of life 
and the disposal of the lifeless body in the ground. There 
can be no doubt that the method of placing the body in the 
coffin, and of temporarily closing the coffin, has led to much 
error in the manner of detaining the dead amongst the living, 
and it is not less doubtful that when, in any instance, actual 
decomposition of the tissues has commenced, the time for 
interment, however short it may be, has fairly arrived. The 
system of burying without the coffin would therefore in a sani- 
tary point of view be of advantage. It would lead to interment, 
in every case, so soon as the direct evidence of decomposition 
had set in, and in the majority of instances that would be 
within forty-eight hours from the hour of the demise. Third- 
day burials would become the rule. This period would be suf- 
ficient to establish the fact of death on the one hand, and to 
prevent injury to the living on the other. 
Under a perfect system of burial, with the method suggested 
of removal of the earth and resupply of new earth at fixed and 
